It may be the sugar talking...

Tonight I went out for dinner with a couple of friends from work.
You know the sort of place. Brightly coloured formica tables, rough wooden floors, chirpy waiting staff and good (overly generous) portions. The meal was good. It was more than enough.

The lemon meringue pie was not my idea. There is no denying it, it looked great. High peaks of softly curled meringue with a pale lemon filling. And of course it came in a portion sized more for a small family than a single person. It also came with three spoons. Well, I could hardly say no, could I? And so now I am in sugar buzz heaven. Feeling rather sick if the truth be known, but on a lemon meringue, pie induced, sugar BUZZ none the less!

I returned home about an hour ago and Mal arrived a little later carrying what can only be described as the auction win of my dreams. There is a local auction house that I rarely enter where the staff are (as Mal accurately observed) "Not exactly customer focused". I would probably describe them as rude and inattentive. They continue to chat, when they are aware you are waiting to ask them a question, and when they eventually do acknowledge you, they can barely mutter an answer before returning to their more affluent looking buyers. I have never bought anything from them before as I generally find they sell more high-end antiques, not the more rustic type that I find more interesting and attractive, and besides I find their snobby attitude pretentious.

In any case, last week-end, having had a lazy morning over a cafe breakfast and a wander up Bridge Road, we took a last minute detour to see what might be on offer. I am currently in the market for a shelving unit of pigeon holes. I don't want modern. What I want is old (and preferably inexpensive), something with a bit of character. It's a combination which is rare, but I am sure it exists. These things often take some time to acquire.

I love boxes. I like the unusual. I am a stationery junkie. I have countless pens and bottles of inks. In my collection I have a desk bell which came from an old hotel in India. When I returned from London I sent 16 tea cartons before me, packed with 'treasures' I found in week-end car boot sales. Much of this I have sold in garage sales. Much of it I still have packed away waiting for more space.

Despite all the clutter this collection may suggest, I do love being organised. I have a wooden filing cabinet and an old wooden set of filing drawers, and I have finally acquired a bookshelf which is already packed with books and cds and more boxes of all shapes and sizes. I do not like piles of mess everywhere. It completely agitates me. Pigeon holes are the perfect solution.

Combine my wish for pigeon hole shelving with a rather small flat that has no more space for such furniture and it's hard to imagine finding quite what I was looking for. And I didn't. In some ways I found something even better. As we wandered through the auction house, I spied a set of desktop pigeon holes. Solid oak. 24 small holes. The whole thing about 50cm high and 70cm wide. Perfect. And it was sitting in that auction house, just waiting for me to walk in. Seriously.

And so, a bit of umming and ahhhing, followed by an absentee bid and yesterday I get a call to tell me I had 'won'. Mal picked it up for me this morning, and now, it sits beside me on my desk, bringing me joy.

Seriously, these are the things that make my day go from groundhog to extraordinary. Nothing major. No promotion. No street parade. No lottery win. Nothing so grand. But a win all the same. Of course it may be the sugar talking, but today has worked out just fine fine fine.